8 Months

Madeleine is growing like a weed and time is speeding by.  This month has been an eventful one, full of travel and moving.  She has now lived in 3 different states since birth- Michigan, New Jersey and now Minneapolis.

No stats for her this month, because we won't be returning to the doctor until we return to Michigan.  But her milestones are:

-Can now feed herself in her high chair.  Continues to love her squeeze pouches, but also can feed herself small, cut up foods.  She's tried all kinds of things from scrambled eggs to chocolate ice cream (not much of course)

-Pulls herself up to standing (June 18- first time)

I was able to document it!

-Starting to learn to crawl on her knees

-Climbs up stairs (just one at a time)

-Working on a third tooth

I've been practicing my photography so here are some shots of her this month.  They would have turned out better if I could get her to look at me.  (I couldn't get her to smile or look at me when I liked the light or the background. Oh well)

Her classic face- always running her tongue over her bottom teeth.

Our Trip to the Desert

Well we couldn't stay in one place for more than a few days, of course we had to make yet another trip.  I love to travel, but after this past trip, I have definitely ready to be home for a bit.  (well at least in our temporary home).  Brody's mom had planned a trip to see her sister (Brody's aunt) in Arizona and convinced me that I should come down too and bring Madeleine.  Aunt Amy has a pool in her backyard and Grandma Julie was there to babysit, I could hardly refuse.

So last Wednesday, I made the 3 hour flight south.  Flying, the land below got drier and drier and soon we were in the dessert.  I was worried about the 100 plus temps, but it actually wasn't bad.  It probably wasn't too bad because we barely moved from pool side the whole time. (and their house has wonderful central air) 

On her 8 month birthday!

The trip consisted on laying out, a pedicure, some shopping, drinking diet cokes and reading US magazines.  (some of my favorite things lol)  I did manage to read a real book and cook dinner a few times and of course take care of my baby.  She was actually teething the whole trip so she didn't like being apart from me much, but I did get a few breaks.  Poor Madeleine is working on her third tooth.  These teeth really do make her miserable.

Proof that I did it. And I got a different color than pink this time!

She loved all the toys Aunt Amy had to play with.

While we were there she hit a milestone or two.  She can now pull herself up to standing and she can climb up small steps. She turned 8 months there so a post of that is to come.

Her first time climbing a stair

Cousins Annabelle, Taylor, Uncle Cache and Jack

Happily I returned to Minneapolis with a nice tan and we are now getting back to our old routine. Hoping that white tooth shows up soon!! 

From Ann Arbor to Chicago to Minneapolis

We've had a crazy two weeks with lots of travel, but we are here and getting settled in Minneapolis, in the state of many lakes. 

To get here we stopped in a few places.  First, we stayed a week in Ann Arbor to check on the apartment and visit some friends and my parents.  Everything was in order and we left our apartment (empty) again, not to return until the end of August. Brody made it to AA on Thursday so we were able to spend the weekend together enjoying Michigan when it was actually decent weather.  We ate at some food trucks downtown and took lots of walks.  Brody then left for San Francisco on Monday morning and Madeleine and I packed up the car and drove the 4 hour drive to Chicago to stay with Clara and Jessie. 

In her new car seat!

The windy city welcomed us with mostly sunny weather, which we tried to enjoy as much as we could.  Highlights from the Chicago trip are: the Bean, eating yummy sandwiches downtown, running with friends, shopping and lots of quality time with Jessie and Clara.  The girls actually really enjoyed each other's company and seemed to like playing side by side.  It's so fun to have such a good friend, who now has a baby close in age to Madeleine. 


 

So cute bathing together!

 

We also attempted a trip to the beach of Lake Michigan but of course it got cloudy and windy latterly the moment we arrived. 

After a few days in Chicago, Madeleine and I ventured on to Minnesota.  I was extremely nervous to make the 6.5 hour drive, but M was so tried from all of our playing in Chicago that she slept most of the way here! It was fabulous. 

Minneapolis is pretty nice so far.  Our apartment is decent, lacking many amenities that I am accustomed to, ie, dishwasher, washer and dryer, central air, but we will survive our short summer here.  We have already visited Mall of America, a farmer's market downtown and a fun park built around the ruins of an old flour mill. We are trying to experience as much as we can while we are here so hopefully I will have much to post about in the near future!

Weekends: Part 5 (final)

We finally had a hot, sunny weekend, the first weekend that felt like summer.  We took advantage of our final weekend in New Jersey and headed to the iconic Jersey Shore.  We did not see the cast of Jersey Shore, but saw many people that looked the part.  There was great people watching at the beach. 

This was Madeleine's first sunny day at the beach and I wasn't really prepared.  She ended up nursing and sleeping on my lap for most of the time.  It was really windy and she refused to stay under the shaded areas, cast from the umbrella.  I had sun block and a hat on her, but it still made me nervous and I didn't want a baby completely covered in sand. Maybe someday I'll get the hang of taking a baby to the beach, but probably not this year. 

I only got two pictures of the day and they aren't too cute so they won't be gracing the blog.

We left NJ on Monday and made the short plane ride (which was actually kind of a nightmare- stuck on the plane on the runway for a long time) back to Ann Arbor for a week.  Brody really enjoyed his time in NYC and his internship was beneficial for him.  I am happy to be moving on to a new adventure and happy to see him more than just on the weekends!